Michael Carter-Who? Wroten has played very well in MCW's absence, spending nearly all of his time at PG (his natural position). His assist rate (8th in the NBA) will drop once his usage rate (3rd in the NBA) falls back to earth, but he's shown improved vision and should maintain a mark around 30% so long as he gets most of his time at PG. Only 21 years old, Wroten is an early favorite for "Most Improved Player", regardless of how inflated his 22 PPG, 7 APG, 3 SPG numbers might be.

This game from Wroten lead to this particular 2K edit.

We can see much improved touch on his 3PT shot, even pulling up off the dribble from deep (despite one of the league's uglier releases). That release prevents Wroten from doing much in mid-range (Wroten has yet to attempt a shot from 16-23 feet through his 7 games), but he seems comfortable as long as he's got time and space.

Wroten's newly minted 3PT stroke has opened up his driving game. You can see a hint of Dwyane Wade in some of those slashes to the hoop. While it's obviousy early to compare Wroten to a future Hall of Famer, this production resembles what we saw during Linsanity and certainly establishes that Wroten will be in-demand if he hits restricted free agency in 2016.

Mbah a Moute hasn't looked this good since the Scott Skiles era. It seems like 2K just wanted to drop Luc's rating because he was overrated for a couple years. The Sixers are bad but their defense (108.7 DRTG, 23rd) is better than last year (109.9 DRTG, 26th) despite losing all their starters.

I'm not sure why Luc's 3PT rating is down, since this looks like it'll be the best 3PT shooting season he's ever had.

Luc's season high is 13 3PM. He has 4 right now through 6 games. It's not worth reading into his shooting percentage when it's BETTER than last season. Obviously a gaffe that hopefully gets corrected in the future. Was fine where he was and might even deserve a small boost later in the year.

The most important thing about Shved that has been overlooked thus far is that he's played 100% of his minutes at Point Guard (he is still listed at SG by 2K). I had theorized that Shved might look better as a PG in Philly because that's his natural position and the one he played internationally prior to joining a Minnesota with a huge glut. It seems like my sentiments were not unfounded, as Shved looks like a respectable NBA player now. The last few years in the NBA have lead to the return of the "Big PG" and players like Shved and Wroten really exemplify that some players shouldn't be playing off-ball even if they are the size of wing players. Spotting up and shooting off the dribble are two different skill-sets and not everyone can make the transition.

What I'd really like to examine is how the performance of Wroten and Shved makes Michael Carter-Williams expendable.

Player

G

MP

PER

TS%

ORB%

DRB%

AST%

STL%

BLK%

TOV%

USG%

MCW (2014)

70

2414

15.5

.480

4.3

15.6

30.2

2.6

1.4

16.9

25.7

Wroten (2015)

7

235

20.7

.533

2.8

12.6

39.8

4.0

1.1

13.2

32.6

Shved (2015)

7

125

15.8

.516

1.8

4.9

33.1

1.2

0.0

13.2

26.5

There were rumors heaing into the season that MCW was on the trade block during the summer, as Philadelphia may not be sold on him as their Point Guard of the future despite earning Rookie of the Year. Truth be told, Rookie of the Year in a weak class is a trivial accolade (someone had to win) and is not a predictor of future success (Damon Stoudamire, meet Kevin Garnett). Philly had likely deduced that MCW's value would never be higher. They likely view him as a product of the system, rather than a future All-Star that will lead the team out of the doldrums (given how the likes of Wroten and Shved have replaced his production, that would likely cement their viewpoint).

With MCW set to return on Thursday, the situation is set to get interesting. MCW and Wroten were not a good pairing because both players need the ball in their hands and neither are prolific shooters. Though Wroten has taken strides in this regard, it's still not an ideal pairing, which means someone's minutes (and/or production) is set to take a huge hit, with a trade for one of the two coming later in the year.Brandon Davies (76ers)

Davies was a bit of an underdog to make the Sixers out of camp, as he was one of the worst players in the NBA last season. Davies' rebound rate still approaches Bargnani-levels of atrocity, but his offensive game is no longer the laughingstock of the league. Davies' really worked on his jumper and stands as the closest thing the Sixers have to a stretch-four (in a system that utilized Spencer Hawes to great effect).

As a capable post player with decent athleticism/handles and reasonable range on his jumper, Davies projects as a Marcus Morris type on a Sixers team devoid of offensive talent. Not bad for a player who was nearly out of the league two weeks ago.

Finally, with four Sixers getting edited in one update, I'll take this time to note that FIVE need position edits. The team depth chart is as follows.

Knight looks like an actual PG for a change, which we can probably lay at the feet of coach Jason Kidd. Speaking of Kidd, check out Knight's rebound rate. 2K hasn't touched on this yet, instead really only focusing on 3PT ratings for the vast majority of players (as per usual).

Knight did this after the roster update. If the Bucks are sniffing playoffs, he'll be in the conversation for an All-Star selection.

While Sanders' FG% is a mess right now (the Bucks rank 28th offensively as a result), there's no arguing his defense and rebounding are vital to the Bucks success (they rank 4th defensively), with Sanders' Block and Steal rates each ranking 3rd in the NBA. With four years and 44 million(!) remaining on his contract, they'll do everything they can to get him back to being a passable offensive option.

Brooks hasn't played anything close to this well since earning "Most Improved Player" honors in 2010. The Bulls once again strike gold with an undersized scoring PG, which leads me to wonder who the best one they've had truly is.

Right now the answer is Nate (who even lead the Bulls to victory in a playoff series). but Brooks will overtake him if he can maintains his level of play over the course of the season. The effectiveness of these players makes me question whether Derrick Rose is a product of the system (why the Bulls have been able to win without him), and how bad a player Kirk Hinrich really must be (even John Lucas was dropping buckets in this system).

Don't look now but 30-year old LeBron is having his worst season since his rookie campaign in 2004. I really don't get why LeBron's handle/passing is taking a hit when it's his 2PT% that has been the culprit thus far (especially considering Carmelo Anthony somehow got his Ball Control boosted to 91 out of the box).

I wouldn't worry about LeBron's play as he triple-doubled in spectacular fashion with 32-12-10 last night against the Pelicans. Penalizing LeBron after 6 games because his team is laughable defensively (28th in the NBA) seems reactionary rather than realistic.

Dion Waiters is a terrible player. I'm not sure why it's taken this long for 2K to realize (to coach David Blatt's credit, it only took him 3 regular season games). Ray Allen cannot come soon enough for the Cavaliers.

Marion is the new starting SG in Cleveland, a position he has never played much. Looking at the success Chicago has had with Jimmy Butler, as well as LeBron acting as a second ball-handler, the move makes sense. I have questions about the 36-year old's ability to keep up with the league's quicker SGs (much less small ball PGs) but anything is better than Dion Waiters at this point.

Barnes was brutal in pre-season and it's carried over to the regular season. He's lost the starting SF job to Jamal Crawford, though that probably won't last since Kawhi Leonard put up his career high against Crawford (while Barnes hit 2-3 3PT). Either way the Clippers need to upgrade here if they hope to contend.

I know fans got hyped from the game winner coming off the heels of his large contract extension, but Kemba is still the same inefficient scorer he's always been. He's in that rough area of PG mediocrity where he's too good not to start but will never produce like a star.

Booker gets a second edit in as many days to better reflect his long-underrated athletic abilities. Now all he needs is a Ball Control boost (rated 35, the minimum rating reserved for stiff centers).Ramon Sessions (Kings)

Sessions was the last free agent veteran signejasond this past offseason and it might be showing here as he struggles to adapt to his new team. As a scoring PG, he's probably a poor fit in a system that allowed Isaiah Thomas to walk away for nothing so the team could feed DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay.

Smith is a mid-range master (49% from 16-23 feet over the last three years), exactly what Dr. Phil ordered. He should be a stable option for the Knicks all season long (provided he stays healthy). Now all he needs to do is grab a rebound.

Gallinari has struggled mightily since returning from the Torn ACL that knocked him out of action for 18 months. I would REALLY like to see 2K start to adjust more than just 3PT ratings since as Gallo has been even worse from 2PT range (4-20) than he has from 3PT (6-23).

Sloan is using his starting role to show that he actually deserves to be a 3rd string in the league. Sloan highlights a big issue with the current 2K ratings in that all deep reserves have criminally low defensive ratings.

The Pacers are 5th in the league defensively, so it's obvious that Sloan hasn't had the negative impact his ratings would otherwise imply. This is a new rating system that 2K implemented over the summer and Sloan rating 20-30 points worse than average in ALL categories might be the biggest example of how much fine tuning it needs right now.